diverone 1 Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 ty for the link... i have purchased the hand brake it looks great. cant wait to have it.... ty cheers Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,012 Posted June 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 ty for the link... i have purchased the hand brake it looks great. cant wait to have it.... ty cheers No probs'. Glad you found what you were looking for. Let us know when you have it installed and how it performs. Happy simming. Brian Link to post Share on other sites
diverone 1 Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 Cheers Joe. It's a nifty bit of kit. Not much inside the box but it adds that extra bit of realism to my panel. You don't happen to know where I can get a set of cockpit warning labels for a cessna 172/182 do you? The sort I mean are the text labels adorning the cockpit panels. Cheers Do you mean this: http://www.chiefairc...dy-cik-002.html ? Cheers hi guys you can download some labels here. www.desktopaviator.com and look for decals or free downloads.. cheers Link to post Share on other sites
diverone 1 Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 Cheers Joe. It's a nifty bit of kit. Not much inside the box but it adds that extra bit of realism to my panel. You don't happen to know where I can get a set of cockpit warning labels for a cessna 172/182 do you? The sort I mean are the text labels adorning the cockpit panels. Cheers Do you mean this: http://www.chiefairc...dy-cik-002.html ? Cheers hi guys you can download some labels here. www.desktopaviator.com and look for decals or free downloads.. cheers http://www.desktopaviator.com Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,012 Posted June 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 OK Guys, here is the GPS Panel update that I've been promising for a while. I've finally had the time to sit down and do it, so here goes. Firstly I researched on line to see just what sort of GPS Panels were on the market for FSX. As you may be aware by now, there aren't that many. The panel from VRInsight ( http://www.vrinsight...p1.php?number=5) is quite a good looking, useful instrument to have but I was limited by the space I had available, so I decided to build my own. I managed to buy a great little 6" LCD kit from Tim, one of our esteemed members. Thanks Tim. The size of the screen governed the actual size that my panel was to be. Once I had the screen I acquired some 3/8" MDF and cut out the shape of my panel. I shaped the piece of MDF to resemble (roughly), the Saitek instruments I already have. Smooth rounded corners and a slight bevel on the edges. I then cut out the area that the screen was to sit in and rebated it so that the screen was flush with the back of the MDF. I drilled the holes to accommodate the shaft of each of the small 'Push to Make' switches. Which I bought from Maplin (http://www.maplin.co...sh-to-make-2493). 12 in total. I screwed these into the holes I had drilled, from the rear of the MDF. My good friend Jack aka Aircraft Aviation sent me this Joysticj Controller, so big thanks to Jack. These are available from Leo Bodnar (http://www.leobodnar...oducts/BU0836X/),and ordered a Universal Joystick Controller BU0836X All the switches I have, are connected to this and once plugged in to the PC via USB, it acts just like another joystick. When you select Start, Control Panel, Devices and Printers, you should see the BU0836X as another device. It was then just a case of configuring it in FSX to map the switches on my panel, to the corresponding switch in the GPS section of the FSX control settings. I also ordered a Dual Rotary Encoder with push button. Complete with the black knob. There is a choice of Grey or Black. This is also wired to the BU0836X Joystick Controller and acts just like another switch. This is used to switch between pages in the GPS menu and the push button on the end is the 'select' button. Once I had everything dry fitted, I removed it all and started to spray my panel. I brushed the MDF with a couple of coats of MDF sealer and let them dry for a couple of hours. Once it was dry I started the colour coat. I used a metallic, charcoal grey car spray paint. I gave it 4 coats of this, sanding between coats. It is really best not to rush this stage. Allowing every coat to dry overnight, before commencing the next. Once the 4 coats were done, I then sanded the panel down, starting with a 600grit wet and dry paper finishing with a 1200grit to get a really smooth finish. I then left the panel to dry for a couple of days before I refitted all the buttons and rotary encoder. I hot glued all these into place on the rear of the panel, to prevent them coming loose with use. I fitted the screen into place and tacked it in place with a touch of hot glue on each corner. (With hindsight, I could have made a deeper frame and used some form of bracket to fit it with.) Once all the connections were made between the BU0836X card and the buttons, I plugged in the USB and VGA cables and switched on. Success!! It worked first time. All that I had to do was to map out the buttons in FSX. Here is a simple diagram showing how the connections were made. The wires from each button/switch are connected to the BU0836X card by simply pressing down on the tab to each hole and pushing the wire into the slot. Each button has two wires, one goes into the numbered connection from B1 to B32. The other wire connects to the GND (ground) of each corresponding connection ie. B1 - GND, B2 - GND etc. Once this was completed, I used heat shrink tubing to tidy all the cables and to keep them together. This also made it easier to clip into place. Once you are using FSX you simply treat this panel as an additional monitor and open the GPS Panel in FSX, undock it and drag it to this screen. That's all there is to it If you need any help building one of these, send me a PM and I will try to help. Cheers Brian Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,495 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 Brian, that is a great insight, thanks for sharing. Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,012 Posted June 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 Brian, that is a great insight, thanks for sharing. Cheers Joe. Have you seen the latest price of the VRInsight GPS Panel? 290.00Euros about £233 It was over £300 when I started building mine. I should have waited and built a bigger panel. EDIT: Apologies, I have been on line to verify what I thought was a good deal with the VRInsight GPS Panel and found that I was wrong to say it has come down in price. The Panel for 290 Euros is supplied by VRInsight in the far east so on top of that price is the shipping costs. I'm not sure what they would be coming from them. FlightSim Pilot Shop are selling it currently at £298.77 $478.89AUD, $479.95USD, 371.67Euros Flightstore - £360 inc vat Proviation - £359 inc free uk delivery Link to post Share on other sites
diverone 1 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 Wow that is really impressive... well done. Question...... how much $$$ for all that??? including the monitor?. Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,012 Posted June 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 Wow that is really impressive... well done. Question...... how much $$$ for all that??? including the monitor?. I have recently costed everything and it would come to around £200+ if you build it yourself. Here's the rough breakdown of the prices - LCD KIT - 5.6" LCD TFT - £81.00 + Delivery BU0836X Universal Joystick Controller - £49.99 + Delivery Dual concentric rotary encoder with pushbutton ELMA E37(complete with matching knobs and mounting hardware) - £18.99 This amounts to £149.98 But on top of that you will have the delivery costs of each item which I am unsure of at the moment, plus MDF, wire, paint, solder, shrink tubing. Hope this helps Brian Link to post Share on other sites
diverone 1 Posted June 26, 2012 Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 ty for your info.. and yes it help..... any info is welcome.... and i want to build my own GPS... cheers Steven Link to post Share on other sites
diverone 1 Posted June 26, 2012 Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 why are you building a new GPS yours looks great.... Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,012 Posted June 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 why are you building a new GPS yours looks great.... I would like to get the control card for the LCD screen and the Leo Bodnar card all packaged into a unit. The 2 cards I have are just fixed to a piece of 6mm perspex. If I manage to do it, I would give myself a little more room inside the box/panel. I'll post if I do get around to doing it. Cheers Brian Link to post Share on other sites
aeromax 10 Posted July 5, 2012 Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 Nice explanation. ´ll take few days to fix it here.... Link to post Share on other sites
M31 0 Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 Looks fantastic Brian, was wondering how this project was going. Great job on the GPS, as you know I have the VR Insight one but yours looks just as good if not better than their production one I have a pair of the Thrustmaster MFD's for military flight sims and know some guys have fitted a small LCD behind them (only the buttons work on them) maybe one day. Awesome though, if you ever build a new one as you hinted at I'd buy this from you in a heartbeat. Cheers. Link to post Share on other sites
diverone 1 Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 That Makes Two of US.....M31 Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,012 Posted July 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Cheers Colin and Steven. I can sense a queue starting. I would like to build another GPS but if it's purely down to me wanting to better the one I've got then wifey would take some convincing. Link to post Share on other sites
ddavid 149 Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Hi Bri' - just picked up on the latest news from your cockpit build. That GPS is most impressive, Mate! Thanks for going into so much detail - excellent work. Be great if you could 'pdf' that description plus photo's ad diagrams. It would be a benchmark for others. Thanks again! Cheers - Dai. Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,012 Posted July 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Will do Dai. We are away to see the grandkids on Wednesday until Saturday or Sunday. I've also got a slot on the Tucano simulator at RAF Linton- on - Ouse, on Thursday so I should be high as a kite for a few days. As our Son Paul is in the RAF he managed to chat with his mother in law who, it just so happens to be one of the time allocations for the simulator and she has wangled it for me to visit the base and have a stint on it. Can't wait. Cheers mate, Brian Link to post Share on other sites
ddavid 149 Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Have a great time on a real simulator - lucky b*gg*r! - and come home in one piece, eh? Cheers - Dai. Link to post Share on other sites
M31 0 Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Have a great time on a real simulator - lucky b*gg*r! - and come home in one piece, eh? Awesome, please take pics Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,012 Posted July 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Have a great time on a real simulator - lucky b*gg*r! - and come home in one piece, eh? Awesome, please take pics Most definately Colin. Can't wait and today is bag packing day. Hoping to set off when the pooch is in the kennels in the morning. Look out for the pic's on my return. Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,012 Posted November 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2012 Hi Guys, Here is the latest update to my flight panel. I decided to take out all the wiring and switches that operate the GPS module and build it all into a box. I can then unplug the cables from it and take it out of the panel (if needed), to work on it. There is a full PDF file in the members download section, but here is the finished result. Well, all that I need to do now is the switch labels on the front. Hope you find it interesting and maybe useful. Cheers Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,495 Posted November 29, 2012 Report Share Posted November 29, 2012 Good work Brian, looking forward to the finished version. (No pressure!) Link to post Share on other sites
Bobby-B 0 Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 That's a real nice GPS you are making there, But you can eliminate all the time in building one. You should take a look at Desktop Aviators Model 2450 GPS. It has a 620x480 resolution screen (VGA input) It can be seen at: http://www.desktopaviator.com/Products/Model_2450/index.htm Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,012 Posted December 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Hi Robert, Welcome to Mutley's Hangar. Thanks for looking at my gps box. I have seen DA's site and often have a visit there. The reason I built my own was purely down to size restrictions. I only had 6¼" width allowance on my flight panel, so DA's gps was too wide. It is a good piece of kit though and I would recommend it to anyone thinking of building their own flight panel/cockpit. Any questions, just fire away,we are a friendly bunch and always here to help and advise. All the best and enjoy Mutley's Hangar. Brian Link to post Share on other sites
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